What is Redemption?
by LunaDiviner13
Summary: Set hours after DMC1. Vergil continues his quest for power once again. What happens when he crosses paths with Dante? Eventual yaoi slash. Rated for violence, blood, language, dark themes and death.
1. prologue

**Disclaimer: I** **don't own DMC or any of their characters...never will...cries in corner**

**This takes place hours after the events of DMC1. Sorry if the information's not accurate but whatever.And yes this is my first DMC fic so hopefully it will get better over time.**

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A lone figure walked down the starless shore of France. He was a little boy, no older than nine years. He was no different than any other boy, with soft blonde hair and curious blue eyes. He had heard rumors of an explosion of some sort on Mallet Island, a seemingly uninhabited island according to the townspeople. There were previous rumors that the place was crawling with demons. His mother had told him to stay away from the shore and not to wander off, but in the end curiosity had gotten the better of him. So, in the depths of the night he sneaked off from his home to go see if the rumors were true. 

The boy wandered farther away until he was a few miles from his home. It was then that he noticed that he was high above a cliff overlooking the sea. Staring down, he could see sharp ragged rocks and merciless unrelenting waves. Amidst it he could make out what looked like pieces of broken metal. With curiosity once again getting the better of him, he ran down the trail leading to the bottom of the cliff.

Once there, suddenly felt an unexplainable cold. It was a kind of chill full of hatred and malice that made him want to run back to the safety and warmth of his home. As he drew nearer he could faintly hear unsteady ragged breathing. With that, the little boy was filled with terror. He remembered other rumors of how the ruined island was filled with demons and monsters. He didn't believe in monsters or demons for that matter. He kept telling himself that as he took shaky steps closer. Slowly he turned to see whatever the creature was and his eyes widened.

Lying prone was a man, or what looked like a man for it was hard to tell because of the black material covering him. Upon closer inspection he realized it was some type of armor. Taking another step towards him he saw a shine of silver hair. Could this be a human? He tentatively poked the side of this man's face. When he got no response, he flipped him on his back with great difficulty considering what he was wearing.

The boy stared in awe at what he saw. The man's face, aside from a few pieces of dirt and sand, was absolutely beautiful, almost angelic-like. All fear was forgotten as the boy tried to wake him up, thinking that a man this beautiful could not be evil. Fearing that the man might be gravely wounded, he was about to go and call for help when the figure stirred. With a sigh of relief, he was about to address him when he noticed another bright metallic object he had in his hand. He reached his right hand out to examine it but before he could even blink, he heard a soft swishing sound and then the sound of a metallic clink. He was trying to figure out what happened, but it was when he heard the sound of liquid dripping that he looked down and screamed when he saw his own hand was severed off so fast that he didn't even feel it at first. He screamed even louder when he felt the pain, clutching his bleeding stump. His screaming was cut short when a hand rung around his neck. The hand was cold, it felt like death itself. The man rose, still grasping the boy's neck in one hand. It was then when they were standing almost face-to-face that the boy saw the man's face again. Instead of the angelic face, he saw an empty soul; rage and hunger for power was the only thing that could be seen from the man's cold piercing eyes. His lips parted slightly, revealing his devilish fangs. His eyes bled red as he said, "You should suffice for now."

The boy didn't even have time to cry as the demon started devouring him; claws and fangs slowly ripping through muscle and bone, as if enjoying every second of tasting the poor boy. He could only try to scream from his pierced throat as the devil started to drain him, ravishing him of every single drop of blood in his body. The man smirked against the still struggling boy, enjoying slowly killing him. It had been too long since he had last been able to kill and he was enjoying every second of it. The taste of this boy's blood was his elixir to his weakened body. Not even ten seconds had passed and the boy had already been bled dry. Frowning slightly, the man threw aside the boy and took in his surroundings. He felt the blood kick in his veins, although it was not enough to fully heal him, it would do for now. Wiping the blood off of his sword, he smiled sadistically into the reflection of his blade. As he started to move, chunks of his armor crumbled away, leaving him almost completely naked. Without even sparing a second glance to the corpse, he slowly walked off towards the nearby town, only one single thought in his mind.

"_Power, I need more power..."_

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A few days later, the little boy's body was discovered, almost nothing left of him because of the swarm of seagulls that tore away at what remained of his flesh. The sight left people afraid because they knew only a demon could cause this much devastation. From what remained of the boy, investigators could not tell how he died, but they feared that it might have been a demon. With all the talk about demons on Mallet a few days ago, they were reluctant to bring up anymore talk of demons that would frighten the people even more. Upon hearing the news that they discovered the boy's body, his mother was mortified when she saw her son's mutilated corpse. The look of fear and sorrow in the investigator's eyes showed her that they were not telling her the entire story.She begged and demanded to know the truth. 

After what seemed like hours, they gave her a phone number of a person they believed could help her. With vengeance in her mind, she picked up a phone and dialed the number. After a few rings, a man's voice answered saying, "Devil Never Cry, what do you want?"

**Well, I'm done with my first ever chapter. Read and Review if you liked it!!!!**


	2. Getting Acquainted

**Note: Yeah sorry about the OCs. I only included them in so it would help bring Dante into the plot of the story easier. They won't become any major characters so just bear with me.**

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Marie silently sighed to herself as she stared off into the calm afternoon sky. It had been so long since she was last able to relax from her demanding life. When her husband had died a few years back of a sudden heart failure, she was left to care for her only child at the age of 27. Being a single mother had taken a toll on her life in terms of fatigue and loneliness. Despite having to support herself, she was grateful to still be blessed with her son Raphael. Though at times he would prove to be a handful and at times almost unbearable, she treasured him beyond life itself. 

Earlier today, she had overheard her neighbors talk about a disaster that had just recently happened to a neighboring island. She, like everyone else in her small, confined town knew the rumors of demons that supposedly resided there. Her opinions towards the existence of demons were doubtful. She had never actually seen a demon before and she, like many others didn't want to believe that such an evil existed. Trying to rid herself on thoughts of the matter, she noticed her son was deeply listening to the rumors of the neighbors; awe and curiosity clearly showing in his blue eyes. Being the overprotective mother, she dragged Raphael away and told him to ignore the lies they told. But seeing that his mind was elsewhere in thought, she knew that her lecturing would be ignored. Once her "nagging" was over, it was then that Raphael innocently asked, "Mother, Mother!! Mr. and Mrs. Louvre said that if we go close enough to the shore we can the smoke from Mallet's explosion!! Can we go see?!" he asked with pleading eyes. Being a victim to her son's innocent puppy-eyed face stare more than enough times, she was immune to his charms and firmly stated, "No, you are not allowed to go anywhere near the shore, understand?". Despite the fact that she didn't want to believe there was a threat there, she couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to her dear Raphael, so in the end she banned him from even going near the shores; not taking any chances by punishing him to stay in his room the rest of the day.

After that incident, the rest of the day went by pretty quickly with nothing important happening. She ignored her son's silent protest of not letting him going exploring and demanded he go to bed if he continued to act in such a way. When he went to bed without any form of argument, she became mildly suspicious, but in the end decided to shrug it off and turn into bed earlier than usual. Her last thought before drifting off to sleep was _'I shouldn't have been too hard on him today. He was just curious; after all boys will be boys… I'll make it up to him tomorrow…'_

If Marie had stayed awake a little longer, she would've discreetly heard the sounds of her son sneaking out of his window into the night. She didn't see him for almost three days, and by the time they had discovered what was left in him, she felt a sense of despair and loneliness that made her give up on the last bit of hope she had left within her.

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"Damn I need a drink..." were the words murmured by a very tired demon hunter. It had been three days since the events on Mallet and Dante was still exhausted. After defeating Mundus and saving the world, you'd be tired too. Attempting to get his mind off of drinking, he stared around the messy unorganized "hellhole" as he often called it, that was his shop/home. His tired eyes lingered on the mountainous piles of clothing near the entrance to his shop. They were numerous amounts of moving boxes that only added to his shop's messy appearance. "How can she buy so many damn things in only a couple days?" he wondered aloud. By she, Dante was talking about his new "sidekick" Trish. He was reluctant to accept Trish as his partner at first. After all, he hardly knew her and she had plotted to betray him at first. But deep down a part of him was desperate for comfort and company that he was deprived of for years. Even deeper in him, he wanted her because of her resemblance to his mother. It was a desperate way for him to still have part of his family with him. He ignored the fact that this woman could never fill the empty hole in his heart; the realization that he was alone only made him want her even more. 

His thoughts were interrupted when he saw said partner coming back from shopping. "About time you came back! Shit! How much more crap did you buy!? If I knew you were going to waste away all of my money I wouldn't have invited you to live with me!" Trish didn't even respond to his remark. He had been acting this way ever since they came back to his home in the city. It worried her at times because ever since they got off that island, he had almost instantly changed from the cocky smartass hero to a schizophrenic like personality. At times he would be normal, but then would act like he was acting now; cold, enraged and possessive. She then said, "Sorry, it's just that I never had anything before when I was serving Mundus, I just wanted…"she trailed off expecting to be yelled at again. Dante noticed the sadness in her voice and quickly said, "Nah its fine I guess I'm just little tired," he said forcing a smile. With a slight nod and smile she proceeded to go upstairs to the living area to unpack.

Unconsciously, he started fondling with a huge amulet he had on his desk. With nothing better to do, he was about to take a quick nap when the phone rang. Not in the mood to exterminate anything right now he really didn't want to answer the phone. '_Well, a simple mission might help me take my mind off things.' he thought. _With that he answered the phone, "Devil Never Cry, what do you want?" "Devil Never Cry? Umm I'm looking for a Devil May Cry," replied a female voice from the other line. Almost instantly, his mood changed and his breathing became more ragged. _'No, I changed that name; it died with that bastard… Devil may cry was named after him …it doesn't matter he's dead…Trish…Devil Never Cry…all that's left now…'_ his grip on the amulet had tightened to the point where the edges had started to cut into his clenched fist. With a deep breath he finally answered the woman, "No the name was changed to Devil Never Cry, what do you want?" "Well my name's Marie and I need your help slaying a demon for me. It murdered my son and no one has any idea what did it. Some people told me that you were the one who took the Mallet Island case. Please, you have to slay it!" Marie shouted with desperation in her voice at the end of her story. "Whoa hang on, if you know about Mallet are you calling from France?! Do you really expect me to go all the way back there just to slay some rouge demon? Sorry lady, but I…" "Please! I'm begging you, it killed my son, my only family member left. I'll give you everything I have. Please I'm begging you!!" Marie was practically in tears. When she finally calmed down when she heard no response. Fearing he might have hung up she was about to break down when she heard a reluctant sigh and a "Tell you what, Marie, was it? I'll come and if this demon is worth going all the way back to France again, I'll hunt it no cost. This had better be worth my while…" he trailed off. Marie could not believe what he just said but as soon as she processed it she almost cried, thanking him continuously and saying it will be worth his time. After what seemed like an eternity for Dante, he got her address and additional information and told her he would leave for France tomorrow.

Hanging up he once again sighed and wondered why he was suddenly feeling so generous. Shrugging it off he went upstairs to tell Trish of their sudden mission tomorrow. It would be their first mission together and he was anxious to see how well they would do together. Upon telling Trish of their sudden mission, she was reluctant at first to go back to that place. But she agreed to it because she felt that she needed to prove herself to Dante that she could help him and because she really didn't want to get him upset. In the little amount of time that she knew him, she knew the consequences of getting him mad would result in physical and mental pain on her part. She knew where most of his cause of anger was coming from; the last time she mentioned it, he had almost broken her wrist and threatened to kill her. She never wanted to relieve that horrible incident again. With false enthusiasm in her voice, she stated, "Great, it'll be our very first mission then! I'll start packing and get ready for tomorrow." "Right, good night then," replied Dante with a slight smile. Heading towards his room, he couldn't help but think why he had agreed to a seemingly simple mission. Settling into his lonely cold bed, he fell asleep almost immediately, drifting off into a cold dreamless sleep.

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	3. Harsh Realizations

**Note: In this story, DMC 3 took place around 1991. DMC 1 takes place 10 years later, so it's early 2001.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything that is DMC never will.**

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It became apparent to Vergil that a lot had changed in the human world since he had last seen it. After aimlessly walking for miles, he stumbled upon a moderately big city. With thoughts of bloodlust in his mind, he started towards the city, but stopped dead in his tracks when he neared. For the first time, he was taken aback at what he saw. Everything was so…different than what he remembered. Everything looked advanced and high-tech; the cars, the buildings, even the people looked as if they were from some sort of futuristic world. Not knowing what to expect, he decided to wait before he decided to make his move. He backtracked to a small rural neighborhood he saw a while back. He remembered that the last time he resided in the mortal world, it was in the early 1990's. '_Just how long have I been gone?' _He absentmindedly thought, rummaging through an old abandoned house that overlooked a nearby town. _'Well why should I care anyway, humans are all worthless and insignificant.'_

Forcing himself not to dwell on the past, he instead thought on what he would do now. He had been foolish in the past to challenge Mundus when he wasn't strong enough to. He needed now more than ever to gain more power to once again challenge him. Almost instantly, his thoughts wandered to his father's sword, Sparda. He had seen what it was capable of and wanted it now more than ever. He then knew what his next goal was; to obtain his father's sword once again. He would have to take it by force by Dante once again, and this time he would take it no matter what the cost. But he also knew he wasn't ready to take him on at the moment. He was still weak from exhaustion and lack of food. Besides the boy, he was only to obtain blood from a few random people walking through the rural area. He knew that he would need to go to the city in order to recover enough of his strength. He smirked at the thought of ripping apart the flesh of all his innocent victims. He had little regret for the way he had lived his life; killing innocent people for his own gain, caring and loving only himself, or any of his sins that he has committed. These were all actions brought upon by his demon half; the half that he embraced, the half that he let control his decisions and his life. It was the voice that guided him to seek power and destroy his own pathetic human soul. What little regret he had was ignored along with his human half. The self loathing and pain bought on by his human half only filled himself with more hatred and thoughts of becoming a powerful full demon; to obtain the strength he has always lusted and to destroy what was left of his human heart and soul. After getting about an hours worth of rest, Vergil then decided to make his way back to the city, somewhat better prepared for the surprises of this new world.

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"So that's all the information that they found at the crime scene then?" asked a very exhausted Dante. Upon arriving at the small town, he and Trish had been bombarded with questions concerning their safety and pleas to be protected. Apparently the town was not used to having any major events happening. Once they had managed to avoid the crowd, they were able to locate Marie's house. When they saw her, they were shocked; she looked older than 40 and her appearance looked as if she hadn't eaten or slept in days. She had gotten on her knees and thanked god when the demon hunters arrived. Right away she filled them in on information about her son and showed them the remains of what was her son. She was now leading them to the area where his body was discovered. By what he had heard and seen so far, he concluded it was probably some stray demon, because of the fact that if it was a serious threat, there would be more deaths than the single death of a little boy. His thoughts were abruptly stopped when he noticed that Marie had stopped walking. "Well this is it, just go straight down the path and you'll be there; I can't go down there, I-I just can't…" before she started crying, Trish supportively put an arm around her, "Hey, don't cry, we'll find your son's killer and we'll make it pay, alright?" With a slight nod she slowly started walking back home, calling over your shoulder saying, "If you find anything tell me!" When she disappeared from view, the duo continued down the path until they came to the bottom of the cliff. The entire area had been taped with police line. The body had already been taken away and inspected. When Dante and Trish had inspected it earlier that day, they saw from the cut marks that it had to have been some kind of demon that wielded a blade. With that, they had gone to the crime scene to see if they could identify what kind of demon it was. 

Surveying the area, it looked like only a single demon was involved. Finding any clues would be harder than they thought because the area looked as if it was completely untouched, with the exception of the police line. Besides that, the waves had also washed away all the blood and left the sand looking spotless. Trish had been looking around the underside of the cliff, scattered with numerous boulders while Dante was inspecting the sand close to where the boy's body was, looking for anything that might have been dropped. Trish was about to ask Dante if he had any luck when she noticed a gleam wedged between two rocks. Picking it up she saw it was a black shining piece of metal. It seemed familiar to her and gasped when realization hit her. A few meters away, Dante heard her gasp and become rigid. Seeing the fear in her eyes, he quickly rushed to her side, "Trish what is it?" he asked with concern in his voice. She slowly handed him the broken piece of metal, afraid of what his reaction would be. "I-It's a piece of armor, there might be more pieces scattered around here." she told him slightly stuttering. Dante was not paying attention, but staring at the gleaming piece of black armor with unreadable eyes. Without a word, he headed up the trail, ignoring all of Trish's attempts to talk to him. She knew that he would do something reckless, but there was not much she could do; she had left Sparda back at Marie's house. With a sudden cry, he activated his devil trigger and flew off. The force of his sudden transformation sent Trish flying several feet. She was even more afraid at the additional burst of power that Dante exerted just by transforming. At this state, Dante could do a lot of damage to the entire country and its inhabitants. Knowing she wouldn't be able to catch up with him, she started running off in the direction towards Marie's house. Once she retreived Sparda, it would be easier for her to handle Dante, and by then he would have calmed down a bit. Unknown to her, a figure was silently stalking and watching her every move.

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As soon as he started walking down the empty midnight street, Vergil knew that he had gotten himself into much more than he bargained for. Looking through shop windows, he could see items and merchandise that he could not recognize. Occupying the streets, automobiles were larger and looked as if though it was from the future. To make matters worse, he couldn't understand what anything meant. He was in a city in France after all, the language itself only helping in giving him an even bigger headache. He had understood a little bit of French years ago, but now couldn't make out what anything meant. Regaining his focus, he instead concentrated on finding humans to recover his energy. When he had first entered, it was around midnight and most people were asleep by now. Turning a corner, he made his way through what looked like the slums of the city. And wherever there is a slum, there is a bar. Finding one, he decided to casually make his way into the bar. Though he could not read the name, with it being in French and all, the many defining aspects of typical bar were still all there; the stench of vomit, the dark musky atmosphere, and the typical drunks and thugs. As soon as Vergil entered, all heads turned on him. Not because of the fact that he entered, or that he was a newcomer, or that he had platinum hair; what turned heads was the fact that his "armor" or lack off armor had literally crumbled away leaving practically nothing left. Yes, a platinum haired man walking into a bar with a katana and almost no clothes does draw attention. Ignoring the many many many stares, he walked right by, sat on a stool and ordered a shot of whiskey. Some were giving him offended looks while others, mainly the very drunk, were eyeing him giving him a wink. Vergil tried his best not to shudder or kill them right there. He really needed a drink right about now; besides he wasn;t in a rush right now. Luckily the bartender understood a little English and brought him one; trying to avoid eye contact. '_Well, at least whiskey still exists' _he grimaced, content that there was still something he recognized. It wasn't until after he had downed it all in one gulp that the bartender stated, "Look you can't come in here dressed up like that!" he shouted in a very accented voice. "Really? I didn't expect a place of this status to even have a dress code. Guess I'll come better equipped next time." Vergil retorted in a very condescending manner. The bartender, very upset and embarrassed at this point, yelled out something in French to everyone at the bar. The various thugs and drunks then got up and started to form a mob surrounding Vergil. Some were yelling at him in French, and some were just watching, waiting for him to make the first move. 

He slowly got up, whiskey shot still in hand, and smirked at all of them before raising his hand and dropping the cup. As soon as he let go his hand instantly went for Yamato. With a faint _clink _sound, he decapitated every single one of the men in one graceful elegant swipe. The men didn't even move and instead of sheathing his sword, he used the flat end of the blade to catch the still falling cup. He leisurely grabbed the cup in his hand and set it on the table as if nothing had happened. As soon as it set on the table, everyone simultaneously fell to the ground, some in five or six separate pieces. The only sound that was heard was of body parts dropping and blood dripping and flowing. Sheathing his sword, he took a second to admire his handiwork before walking around each one of them, searching for someone whose blood was sufficient enough to take. He cursed his luck, being in a bar, most of the men were too disgusting to even consider, some he could smell the alcohol from their breathless mouths. Among the disgustingly drunk, he found a few that weren't too bad and sated his bloodlust after a few minutes. Satisfied, he was about to leave when he remembered his current state of undress. Staring at the unmoving men he briefly pondered what would be a bigger blow to his pride; walking down a street in a drunk's clothes or walking naked for the whole world to see. He was about to choose the latter of the two when he noticed that one of the lesser disgusting men was clad in a black leather jacket and matching leather pants. With a sigh, he decided to take it. Everything fit okay except that he was shirtless only wearing an open leather jacket that came up at his navel, exposing his lower abdomen. '_At least no one will see me like this, they'll be dead before they can even speak,' _he grimaced at his reflection in a mirror near the entrance.

He exited the bar refreshed and clothed. He continued walking throughout the slums until he came to a dead end. He was about to turn back when suddenly he felt the temperature drastically drop all of a sudden. He could see the clouds form and begin to darken. Closing his eyes, he could sense a great amount of demonic energy coming his way and fast. It was unrelenting and he could practically taste it's rage and bloodlust. At once he opened his eyes; he recognized that energy anywhere. He cursed to himself for being caught; he hadn't expected to be found so quickly. He closed his eyes once again and thought on his options. He knew he could not flee, the enemy was too close, but Vergil was not in good shape even with his earlier kills. He would have to end this battle quickly if he wanted to win. He effortlessly unsheathed Yamato and blocked the blade that was aimed at his head. The blades met in a deadlock. He opened his eyes and stared at the attacker, barely noticing the rain that had began to pour.

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**Sorry about the cliffie, there will definetly be more action in the upcoming chapters. Also, this chapter is not meant to insult the French in any way!!**

**Please Read and Review!!!**


	4. Confrontations

**Disclaimer: Don't own DMC**

**I'm not sure if I should turn this into a sad or happy story. Hmm I'll decide by the next chapter.**

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Trish had a feeling she was being followed as she continued her sprint to Marie's house to retrieve Sparda. Upon arriving there, she quickly grabbed Sparda and ran out before Marie could even question her. As she walked out the door, she could feel the demon's presence was even closer now and there were hordes of them. Not wanting to risk hurting anyone, she ran towards the direction Dante was heading, luring the demon away from the town. Dark clouds were looming overhead; as if an omen of what was about to happen. Once she was a safe distance away, she stopped and waited for them to come. Almost immediately, a creature lunged at her. Blocking its attack with Sparda she could see it clearly and gasped. It was a Shadow, similar to the one that Dante had faced on Mallet, except this one was bigger and had a human face. She guessed that it was the leader. Behind it, a group of smaller Shadows lurked behind, waiting for her to make a move from the stalemate. It was a horrible situation for her; fighting one Shadow alone was tough but a whole group of them and their leader was insane. _Well it doesn't look like I'll be stopping Dante anytime soon._ She wasn't worried about him too much; the demons were not after him. Her thoughts were interrupted when the shadow on front of her cackled, a high pitched scream similar to the cry of a Van Helgard. Bringing it's face inches in front of her it smiled, exposing all of it's horrendous jagged teeth saying, "You will be coming back with us dear Trish, Master is very disappointed in you."

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Lightning illuminated the sleeping city as Vergil slashed at his opponent. _Great, there's more of them surrounding the entire place_ he thought as he ripped apart another marionette. It amazed him how quickly Mundus was able to recuperate after only being defeated a few days ago. He had assumed that he would send his minions to find him in a few months, not days. Now he was surrounded and he could sense more and more of the puppets heading his way. Spinning in a quick circle, he slashed away all the surrounding puppets in the blink of an eye. _This isn't too bad, they are low level minions, this shouldn't take too long. _He continued to cut them apart, but to his horror saw something that caught him off guard. These marionettes were different than the ones from before; when they were cut up, the body parts continued to move and reformed, some of them only had a single arm or three legs. No matter how many times they were shredded to pieces, they didn't die. They kept regenerating and coming after him. There were now hundreds surrounding him, each of their soulless eyes gleaming red with murder. They simultaneously attacked him; some lunged at him while others threw their weapons at him with deadly precision. Vergil was able to deflect them at first, spinning Yamato in a circle to stop them, but then was overwhelmed by the number of weapons. He was hit in various places, most hitting him around his abdomen, back and legs. Most of the blades went right through him, but some ended up embedded in him. Blood was everywhere, his blood. Breathing heavily, he stood back up, pulling out the blades impaled in his body, losing more blood with every movement. He could not beat them all in his condition. He saw them ready their weapons, knowing that one more hit like that would be all it would take to defeat him. Seeing no other option, he focused all of his power, and with a cry he devil triggered. The shock wave that came with his trigger stunned the marionettes, and with that, Vergil took the opportunity and flew as far away as he could. Picking up his speed, he flew deeper into the maze-like city, twisting and turning in an attempt to throw them off his trail. With each flap of his wings, his blood sprayed along the surfaces of the skyscrapers, the crimson then washed away along with the rain. Slowing himself, he could feel the puppets aura splitting of into different directions searching for him. After flying a few miles deeper into the city he began to grow tired. Noticing a tall skyscraper, he rose to the top of it and stood at the very top, looking down for any signs of the enemy.

Steadying himself, he examined his wounds. He was starting to heal quickly, minor bruises and scratches already gone. He was still weak and bleeding heavily in some places. He was thankful that it was raining for it would wash away his blood and scent, making it harder for the marionettes to find him. He decided he would have to run away from the enemy until he was ready to face them and had more knowledge on them. But for right now, he would have to stay out of sight and continue healing, as much as it hurt his pride to do so. Getting into a meditative state, he relaxed, helping his demonic powers heal faster.

The rain had now become a downpour, soaking him to the bone and making his vision nearly impossible if an object was more than a few feet away. Vergil was so concerned in healing his injuries that he did not notice a demonic aura rapidly approaching him. It was stronger than the weaker minions, but he didn't feel it until it was too late. Before he could even turn, the demon slammed right into him, ramming him with so much pressure that they both went through the stone and brick of the building. With a crash, he landed facedown on the floor inside of the empty office building. Disoriented, he tried to stand but before he could rise, something heavy landed on him forcing him facedown again, cracking the ground underneath him. He could hear the demon's ragged heavy breathing and felt a clawed hand grip the back of his head and wings. His right hand had been pinned down with the demon's knee, leaving Vergil completely immobile. Regaining his senses, he immediately recognized the demon's presence and scent. He could practically taste the hate and malice radiating from the demon above him. It was snarling and shaking with uncontrollable anger. His heavy breathing was cut short when the demon jerked his head up with such force, he thought his upper vertebrae would snap. The demon lowered his head right next to his ear. With anger and almost insanity, the demon leaned into his ear and whispered, "It's been a while big brother."

"Dante," Vergil snarled, venom in his tone. He truly hated his luck. First he had to deal with an army of marionettes and now this? _This night just keeps on getting better_ he thought.

"Wow, so you do remember how to talk," Dante spat out. Feeling Vergil trying to escape, he dug his claws deeper into his skin, and used his other hand to pull even harder at his wings, threatening to pull them out. "What's the matter, Vergil? Can't even say hi? Never said anything the last time, but then again you were a mindless freak," he laughed, a bitter humorless laugh. He freed his hand that was gripping his head for a second and took out Ivory. "Well it doesn't matter cuz you're still the same heartless and sadistic bastard that deserves to die."shoving the gun to the back of his head, he grinned, "I defeated you last time, you should be rotting in hell! You should've stayed down there!"

With anger overcoming him, Vergil forgot about all his plans to flee. Even with his injuries, he would not run from Dante; his pride would never let him. Memories of the times he was defeated by him only added to his increasing rage. He remembered seeing Dante's face that had a look of triumph when he was defeated the last time as Nelo Angelo. But what Vergil didn't see was his horrified face when he realized who Nelo Angelo was. Focusing all of his emotions and anger, he started casting a spell. _Never again…_ With that, he said, "You will never defeat me." Immediately, numerous blue summoned swords appeared and impaled Dante right through his chest, wings, arms and a single one through his throat, almost completely cutting off his air way. He cried out in pain and his hands instantly went to his throat, trying to remove the phantom sword that was choking him. Vergil turned around and placed a kick right at his chest, sending him flying and hitting the wall behind him. Getting up, he started walking towards him smirking. While in the Underworld he had learned more spells and enhanced his old skills. With a wave of his hands, the summoned swords started to glow. Dante stared, shocked. He was used to this attack and expected the swords to fade away. Instead they all blew up simultaneously, splattering Dante's blood all over the white walls. Vergil admired the blood staining the walls for a moment before turning to the spot where Dante had fallen. Sounds of gunfire echoed throughout the empty building as Vergil easily deflected all of them. The bullets spread and caused smoke from the rubble to increase. By now, both of them returned to their human forms. "Is that it brother, is that all the strength you have after all these years? Pathetic." said Vergil in a mocking tone. Getting even more frustrated, Dante drew Rebellion and charged at Vergil.

Their blades met once again, promises of bloodshed sang with each impact. It was the same dance from their battle on the Temen ni Gru. Once again blood started flowing and spilling. They had both grown stronger and had obtained more skills. But to both of their annoyance and anger, they realized that they were still evenly matched. Vergil started growing weary with each passing second. His strength was starting to fail him. _Dammit, I needed more time to heal!!_ He cursed himself for charging into battle, but even now, he knew he would not stop. He would not be defeated by him again! Their blades then locked into a stalemate; they glared at each other refusing to give in. Dante noticed his strength weakening, "What's the matter, getting tired already?" he smirked at him.

With a snarl, Vergil executed a series of complex combos that overwhelmed Dante; his sword was in a slashing frenzy becoming quicker and more frantic and finally ended by sending a hard kick to Dante in his ribs. He crashed right trough the window and into the cold rain outside. Vergil was panting hard; that combo took most of the strength he had left. Going to the spot where Dante had just crashed through, he looked down. The rain was still strong and he couldn't see anything past a couple of feet. As he leaned over more, he barely heard the sound of gunfire and felt a sudden pain near his head. The pain spread and increased and soon he was falling too. Normally bullet wounds would annoy him more than hurt him, but in his condition, it sent him sprawling over the edge. Because of his demon powers, he landed on his feet on the wet street, his hand holding his forehead. The first thing he noticed when he landed was that Dante was not attacking him. He couldn't even see or hear him past the rain. His question of why his twin had suddenly ceased fire was answered when a circular scythe buried itself in his shoulder. Yelling in pain, he turned around and was able to make out the outlines of marionettes. They had found him. He frantically sent phantom swords in the directions he felt they were coming from. Now he was even weaker than before; the injuries he had just received from Dante weren't even close to being healed. Listening carefully he could faintly hear, past the downpour of rain, gunshots and the sound of scraping metal. It seemed like Dante was busy at the moment. At that moment, a blade went flying inches in front of his face. He tried using Yamato again, but jad the same results as last time. As a few more scythes were able to cut him, he had to escape. Choosing to ignore his pride, he triggered, using the last amounts of energy he had and flew straight up away from the puppets and Dante. His devil trigger barely had any power left, the shock wave didn't even faze the puppets this time. They continued their merciless attacks on him. He barely made it twenty feet when his devil trigger deactivated. He crashed back down onto the cold wet ground; the impact causing his bones to ache in pain. He didn't have the strength to move anymore. He was past his limit. Instead of trying to move, he just lay there. He had no strength left to continue this fight. He could feel various blades slash at his back, some going all the way through and impaling itself in him. He didn't even bother trying to defend himself.

He had lost. Just when he got his mind and soul back, he was going to be dragged back down to hell again. He was now at the point where he could not feel the pain anymore. The only sounds he could here were that of the rain, pouring everywhere. It was cruel how life was; he had been free for Mundus for the first time in nearly ten years, only to be sent back to him days later. Back in the Underworld, he would be punished, tortured and then be enslaved to Mundus forever. Despite all the pain, he was still grateful that he was free long enough to be able to see one thing. With his last thoughts on that one thing, he couldn't help but smile as he went into unconsciousness.

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**Another evil cliffie, oh well. Read and review! Also this story probably won't be updated for a long time. No I haven't given up. I'm just gonna be gone for a while. It is summer...**


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